A Tale of Skulls

Creative men and women of Russia have eloquently, convincingly denounced war crimes and its accompanying cruelties. For instance, famous painter Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904) depicted a pyramid of skulls, built by a ruthless Central Asian ruler. The painting was rightfully named, The Apotheosis of War, 1871. But, the kind-hearted artist forgot or ignored his own countrymen, who routinely perform ignominous rites, concerning human skulls. They had perpetrated such an atrocity before the painter. They did it in his time. And they continue to do so in our time.

The Russians have been notorious for their barbaric cult proclivities. Russian general of the German ethnic origin Grigoriy Zass (1797-1883), who was responsible for the Circassian genocide in Norh Caucasus, collected skulls of his victims. Even, predominantly belligerent, ruthless Russian public was outraged and the general had to step down. Kazakh dissident Karishal Assan Ata (1935-2015) wrote on page 66 of his book, Phantom of Independence, 1997, about a blood-curdling meeting: “… a Russian czar – “democrat” Alexander the Second, receiving a grandnephew of Kenesary Khan, renowned traveler Chokan Valikhanov, who discovered mysteries of Central Asia, showed him the skull of his great-uncle, turned into an ashtray of the czar” (in Russian: “… русский царь – “демократ” Александр II, принимая двоюродного внука хана Кене, известного ученого-путешественника, открывателя тайн Центральной Азии Чокана Чингизовича Валиханова, показал череп его деда хана Кене, который он, царь, использовал в качестве пепельницы”). Reportedly, fragments of Adolph Hitler’s skull also have been kept by the Russians, who boastfully exhibit them from time to time. Well, even a defeated enemy deserves some dignity and respect.

In the photo above, dated May 21, 2018, numerous Circassians protest outside a Russian diplomatic mission in Istanbul, Turkey. Among other things, they hold poles with skull-models as a reminder of atrocities, committed by the skull collector – the Russian general. The ongoing atrocities, perpetrated by Russian terrorists in Syria and Ukraine, have come as no surprise to diligent students of history.